Father Hesburghs Influence at the University of Notre Dame - Research Paper Example

Father Hesburgh’s Influence at the University Of Notre Dame Miad Alhumaid The University of Akron Overview Father Hesburgh has great aspirations to become a priest since he was very young. After getting his doctorate in the discipline of sacred theology, he joined the University of Notre Dame as a chaplain. He became the President of the university in 1952 and devoted 35 years of his life to bring major reform into the higher education system and brought Notre Dame up to the level of one of America’s finest Catholic institutions. As president, he installed many changes in the administering system of the school. These changes included setting up a board of trustees, introducing co-education, and altering the curriculum. Through his policies, the university’s budget increased greatly in size and the academic levels of the institutions were raised to a whole new level. Father Hesburgh showed great character in dealing with the student activism during the Vietnam War through his speeches and the ‘Tough 15 – minute rule’. People say that Father Hesburgh was one of the best things that ever happened to the University of Notre Dame, and for this reason the university’s library is now named after him. Father Hesburgh – An Introduction Father Theodore Martin Hesburgh, born in 1917, in Syracuse, New York, was a great man. He strongly aspired to become a priest ever since the years he spent in Roman Catholic grade schools (O'Brien, 1998). After graduating from high school, he joined the University of Notre Dame in 1934 for undergraduate studies but was soon sent to Italy by his seminary. He then continued his studies in a roman university until the outbreak of World War II forced him to leave the country (O'Brien, 1998). During the war he went to The Catholic University of America from where he graduated in 1945 with a Ph.D. degree in ‘sacred theology’ (Hesburgh, 1990) (O'Brien, 1998). Father Hesburgh has had a lasting impact on American society and higher education. Following this, he attended the seminar held in Washington DC at the Holy Cross College where he was honored with the official title of a Roman Catholic priest. Father Hesburgh and The University Of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame is basically a Catholic American research institute located in Notre Dame. It is to be noted that “Notre Dame” is a French word which means ‘our lady’ and refers to the Virgin Mary (Hesburgh, 1990). Hesburgh spent time in Holy Cross at Notre Dame studying theology and philosophy as well as several different languages. After that, he was chosen to study at the Gregorian University in Rome because his loyalty, obedience and success. His first two years at Notre Dame eventually led him to being selected to study there (Hesburgh, 1990). Unfortunately, he stopped his studies there once the World War II started. When the war ended, a large number of war veterans returned to their homes and joined colleges. It was at this moment the University of Notre Dame called Father Hesburgh to join the institute as a chaplain to the newly enrolled veterans (O'Brien, 1998). He accepted this offer very humbly and worked to his earnest as part of the university’s faculty. Over the years, he soon got promoted to assistant professor and then later, in 1948, he was made the head of the Department of Religion (O'Brien, 1998). He was made the vice president of the university the following year and finally, in 1952, he became the 15th President of the University of Notre Dame by succeeding Reverend Cavanaugh. Beginning of Services at the University When Father Hesburgh took over the charge of the university, it was well reputed mainly for its athletics rather than its academics (Schlereth, 1976). This was because the main priority in choosing the faculty was to serve the institution was orthodoxy instead of caliber and intellect (Hesburgh, 1979). The great Father Hesburgh decided to change this and emphasized on the aim of improving the academic standards from day one. He made it crystal clear to both the faculty and the students that he did not value some of the university’s traditions which were exactly why things would soon be changing and evolving (Hesburgh, 1979). He easily convinced the school’s administration and alumni to accept his ideas through his impressive public relations skills and, thus, set out to fulfill his dream of making Notre Dame into the country’s first great Catholic university. Major Reforms His first reform was to carry out a construction program in an attempt to significantly alter the campus layout. Simultaneously, he also transferred all of the administrative powers from the church to an entrusted board of trustees, he himself formed (Schlereth, 1976). He himself took charge of removing the people whom he considered “ill-suited” for the job and replaced them those he thought would help the institution progress greatly. Other Catholic schools and colleges soon followed his move. Within the first two decades of his presidency, the repute of the University of Notre Dame was upgraded from average to excellent (Schlereth, 1976). The quality of the faculty hired at the campus was raised to quite an impressive level and hence, the academic standards of the school were significantly improved. He introduced a “Distinguished Professors Program” in 1953 through which he aimed to draw the attention of the top scholars of every field in the country and offer them incentives to work at the university (Goodchild, 1997). Almost 100 extremely intellectual professors had joined the institution by the time Father Hesburgh retired. Major Contributions Throughout the 35 years of his presidency, the University of Notre Dame flourished well in terms of finance. Its budget increased to about ten times from its original value, while the research money reached up to a value of almost $15 million (Hesburgh, 1990). The number of students joining the university increased steadily each year and hence the budget and salaries were further amplified. The improvement in the financial status of the university also led to an increase in the number of faculty members and went up to about 950 with 9,600 students enrolled in the school at the time of Father Hesburgh’s retirement (O'Brien, 1998). It is widely believed that modernization is among the most important and major changes brought by Father Hesburgh (Hesburgh, 1958). Although the basic essence of the education at Notre Dame was to be the molding of the character and personality, Father Hesburgh did make new additions to the curriculum (O'Brien, 1998). He also dropped the idea of the compulsory attendance at the Mass, something for which he faced strong opposition. He remained unmoved, nevertheless. The university did become one of the leading Catholic institutions in America and there were many who said that Father Hesburgh was one of the best things that happened to Notre Dame University (Malloy, 1994). Another one of his most dramatic acts was to make Notre Dame coeducational back in 1972 despite all the opposition he had to face. When he first suggested a merger of his college with the neighboring all-girls Saint Mary’s College in 1971, he was greatly opposed by his fellow faculty members and administration (Hesburgh, 1990). Nevertheless, he remained persistent and the University of Notre Dame welcomed its first batch of about 365 female undergraduates a year later (O'Brien, 1998). This proved to be quite productive, as the number of applicants increased sharply. The admission standards were also raised significantly and the university continued to travel down the road of progress and success (Connelly, 1972) (Thelin, 2004). Student Movement at the University The University of Notre Dame was certainly not immune to the protests and demonstrations of the students in the late 60s. Political and social conflicts were very common and the student activism had taken on a whole new level. In such times, Father Hesburgh believed that the students should be provided with opportunities for voicing out their opinions, but he was also quite intent on ensuring that such activities don’t affect the educational process of Notre Dame (Hesburgh, 1990). So the great man took some calculated steps to achieve a balance between maintaining order and getting his students involved into the political affairs. It was during these times when Father Hesburgh was notified that some students were aggressively planning to set fire to the ROTC building (Hesburgh, 1990). A display of great character was seen by the students of Notre Dame when their president addressed them to show his opposition to the war in Vietnam while at the same time supporting the ROTC and military; for he said that every community is and always will be in dire need of an educated army so it is for our own good that we must support them (Hesburgh, 1990). As expected, the students received his speech very warmly and came out in large numbers later on to get signed copies of it which they wished to mail to President Nixon (Hesburgh, 1990). Thus, he handled the situation very impressively and prevented any unnecessary violence at the university, for the time being at least. However, student movements all over the nation still continued to grow even more intense and violent. Even at Notre Dame, a group of students became a threat. College presidents from all over the country were confused about how to best handle the scenario before them. In such times, it was Father Hesburgh who served to be a shining example of hope for everyone. He analyzed the situation in quite detail and then addressed all the students and faculty of the nation through a letter published in the newspapers, which later became popular, known as Father Hesburgh's “Tough 15-minute Rule” (Hesburgh, 1990). Through that letter, Father Hesburgh proposed that the troublemakers should be given a time of fifteen minutes to think over and reflect on their actions and make amendments if they wish to; if not, then they should be severely dealt with. This letter had a significant impact and the student activity was brought down to only peaceful protests . Father Herburgh – Contribution to Higher Education There are no contrary views regarding the fact that Father Hesburgh has made some very significant contributions to the field of higher education. He gave several precious and hardworking years of his life to this field. Through he was also engaged in the political realm, but this engagement does not affect his contributions and dedication towards the Catholic higher education. He was committed to providing services at the University of Norte Dame that always remained a priority job for him. He joined the university with a broader vision in his mind. He set some big goals to achieve and then exerted his efforts towards the attainment of these goals. He had a firm belief that the Catholic universities have the potential to serve the community, society and students through high level intellectual and moral education and training to the student and for this purpose, he introduced several reforms to the higher education system so that the universities could comply with the broader goals he set for this. During Father Hesburgh’s leadership at Notre Dame had risen good equality to development the education by presenting more than 120 PhD’s, were added to the faculty and the endowment increased to $25 million ,and improved the average IQ of entering freshmen and college- board scores (Hesburgh, 1972). He also worked to get some grants for the universities to improve the functioning of the higher education system and his efforts became successful when the university got the grant from Ford Foundation and Carnegie Corporation. He used these funds to construct a new library at the university while planning some extensions to the university buildings ‎ (Thelin, 2004).‎ Father Hesburgh extremely converted Notre Dame from an excellent football program to an excellent educational program which the significant event Notre Dame had become a great university and a new vision for Higher Education. Father Hesburgh and Social Affairs Though the presidency of Notre Dame was quite a hectic job, it still did not prevent him from taking part in the social affairs. Father Hesburgh was quite an outspoken person and voiced out his opinions and ideas publicly with great confidence, regardless of the fact that he disagreed with the church at times (Witt, 1977). An example of this is the issue of birth control; Father Hesburgh believed that the church’s opinion on this issue was a mistake and boldly encouraged his audiences to make use of it when needed. Though he chose celibacy for himself, he did encourage people to marry and have families. What he did discourage in his teachings was any sort of sexual relationship outside of marriage. Father Hesburgh was very proud of the fact that more than about 90 percent of alumni of his university were able to keep their marriages successful, for which he and his preaching certainly hold credit (O'Brien, 1998). Conclusion It is also an important point to mention that the actions of Father Hesburgh clearly displayed the fact that Notre Dame was very dear and precious to him. He brought significant reformations to the university so that it could encounter the growing evils of society. In 1986, after realizing that his work at Notre Dame was done, Father Hesburgh announced his retirement. The institution honored his great services by renaming the main library to “Theodore Hesburgh Library” (Hesburgh, 1990). Hesburgh’s success has made him a significant figure and gives as an important example for others pursuing excellent quality in higher education. Though now retired, Notre Dame continues to be the home of great Father Hesburgh. He still visits that library that bears his name, attends Mass daily and enjoys the view of the university that has been the love of his life from his 13th – floor window. References Connelly, J. R., & Dooley, H. J. (1972). Hesburgh's Notre Dame: Triumph in Transition. New York: Hawthorne Books. Goodchild, L. F., Wechsler, H. S., & Association for the Study of Higher Education. (1997). The History of Higher Education. Needham Heights, MA: Simon & Schuster Custom Publ. Hesburgh, T. M., & Reedy, J. (1990). God, Country, Notre Dame. New York: Doubleday. Hesburgh, T. M. (1979). The Hesburgh Papers: Higher Values in Higher Education. Andrews and McMeel, Inc., Kansas City, KS 66202. Hesburgh, T. M. (1958). Patterns for Educational Growth: Six Discourses at the University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame. Malloy, E. A., & Newcomen Society of the United States. (1994). Notre Dame: The unfolding vision. New York: Newcomen Society of the United States. O'Brien, M. (1998). Hesburgh: A Biography. Washington, D.C: Catholic University of America Press. Top of Form Schlereth, T. J. (1976). The University of Notre Dame: A Portrait of its History and Campus. Notre Dame, Ind: University of Notre Dame Press. Thelin, J. R. (2004). A history of American Higher Education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Witt, L. (1977, Sep 26). Father Theodore Hesburgh is Notre Dame's most durable triple threat: President, priest and activist. PEOPLE, 8(13), Retrieved from http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20069147,00.html.Bottom of Form Read More